This invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning an article such as a semiconductor wafer which has been subjected to a polishing process and, in particular, to an apparatus for rinsing a cleaning member of such a cleaning apparatus.
In production of semiconductor devices, following a polishing process, a semiconductor wafer is subject to a cleaning process by a cleaning apparatus for removing slurry particles attached to the wafer during a polishing process. The cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning member such as a rotating sponge cleaning member or a rotating brush which is adapted to be engaged with a surface of a semiconductor wafer onto which water is being continuously supplied to remove slurry particles from the wafer surface. Accordingly, it is necessary for the cleaning member to be rinsed periodically to keep it in a good condition by removing slurry particles from the cleaning member, which particles are transferred from the wafer.
A typical rinsing apparatus of this type includes a sink in which a rinsing liquid or water is supplied and a cleaning member is rinsed in the supplied rinsing liquid. However, such a rinsing apparatus involves a problem that during rinsing operations, slurry particles removed from wafers are deposited on a bottom wall of the rinsing sink thus leading to a tendency for the rinsing liquid to become contaminated, and the cleaning member which is subject to the rinsing process in the rinsing liquid might consequently also become contaminated. It is therefore conventional for a rinsing liquid to be continuously supplied into a rinsing sink in such a manner that the rinsing liquid overflows from the sink and/or is drained through a drain hole provided in a wall of the rinsing sink. For instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Hei 3-53524 and Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application Sho 60-194335 disclose apparatuses for effecting such a rinsing operation.
However, it is difficult for such a rinsing apparatus to entirely avoid the depositing of slurry particles in a rinsing sink. In order to enhance the quality of a rinsing operation, it is therefore desirable to further improve such a rinsing apparatus to enable as many slurry particles as possible to be removed from a rinsing sink.